The Finance Ministry said in its press release ahead of the International Women's Day on March 8 that "in the past six years, the ministry has launched various schemes which have special provisions for the empowerment of women

The ministry said in its press release ahead of the International Women's Day on March 8 that "in the past six years, the ministry has launched various schemes which have special provisions for the empowerment of women".

"These schemes have financially empowered women to lead a better life and chase their dreams of being an entrepreneur," it added.

The ministry further said that women account for over 81 per cent of the total beneficiaries under the 'Stand Up India' scheme with loans worth Rs 16,712 crore sanctioned for them in nearly 4 years time.

The Stand Up India scheme was launched on April 5, 2016, to facilitate bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch of Scheduled Commercial Banks for setting up a greenfield enterprise.

"As on February 17, 2020, more than 81 per cent account holders under Stand Up India Scheme are women. 73,155 accounts have been opened for women. Rs 16,712.72 crore has been sanctioned for women account holders and Rs 9,106.13 crore has been disbursed for women account holders," the ministry said in a statement.

Besides, under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), 70 per cent of the total loan borrowers are women. PMMY was launched on April 8, 2015, for providing loans up to Rs 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises. These Mudra loans are given by commercial banks, RRBs, small finance banks, MFIs and NBFCs.

"As on January 31, 2020, more than 22.53 crore loans have been sanctioned since the launch of the scheme. Out of this, more than 15.75 crore loans extended to women, thereby 70 per cent of the total loan borrowers are women," the ministry added.

Moreover, Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on August 28, 2014. The scheme envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every adult. It has 38.13 crore beneficiaries.

"As on February 19, 2020, 20.33 crore beneficiaries out of 38.13 crore PMJDY beneficiaries are women which amounts to 53 per cent," it said.

In the social sector scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY), launched on May 9, 2015, more than 93 lakh subscribers (43 per cent) out of a total of around 2.15 crore subscribers are women, according to the ministry. The scheme offers guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 -Rs 5,000 at the age of 60 years.